Irresistible Invitation To Justice
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:16–18 At the beginning of Mark’s account of the life of Jesus, he tells the story of Jesus going to synagogue, reading from the Word of God and announcing his job description: proclaim good news to the poor. proclaim freedom for the prisoners recovery of sight for the blind, set the oppressed free, proclaim the year of the Lord’s...
Read MoreKicking Comparison
“For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well… all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16 Hi friends! (From Becky Watson) Have you been able to identify some areas in which you find yourself bound up by comparison? Are you identifying those thoughts and kicking them out of your head, replacing them with renewed focus on the bigger picture of who and what you are living for? Don’t let Satan...
Read MoreWhat, you too?
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:9–11 I need you in order for me to become the person I say I want to become. I need to hear your story so that I can know that although I might not have the same struggle as...
Read MoreYour Story
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you...
Read MoreDo Not Be Afraid – Do Not Miss Christmas
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.Luke 1:30–33 With all of the movies we see and books we have read, the idea of someone being alone and then experiencing the appearance of a being in their midst is not a shocking one to us. But what if that really happened to you? Imagine...
Read MoreHope That Breaks Chains
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–22 The people of God have always been an expectant people — a people called to live a life of faithful waiting, consciously blessing and seeking the good, not just of themselves, but of others, even those who would be enemies. This reality gives us hope, because we know that there is something bigger going on. Hope is the...
Read MorePrepare The Way — (and join us this Saturday)
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” Mark 1:1-3 Advent is a season of preparation, both personal and corporate. The people of God have always been shaped by what God has already done and by the expectation and anticipation of what he has promised to do in the future. This expectancy gives us hope, joy and the ability to live a life marked by...
Read MoreAdvent: Keep Watch
But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake. Mark...
Read MoreYet Another Dead Man of Color
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:22–24 This past Sunday at Creekside I said that the Kingdom of God is seen in the spaces where what God wants done is done. When God talks about what this looks like, he very often talks about justice. Throughout the pages of scripture God...
Read MoreGod Calls Women To Lead
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. Judges 4:4–5 Have you spent much time reading the book of Judges? Most people haven’t. It is tucked away in a kind of in between time in the life of Israel. It contains odd stories, a similarly repetitive book, the story of the time after Moses and Joshua where though they had promised to do otherwise, the people of God turned away from him to worship other,...
Read More